Luke Kronos Heroes of Olympus Chaos
by Catgirlz99
Summary: Annabeth, Percy, Nico and Thalia are on a quest to stop Kronos. Luke is acting strange and odd things are cropping up. Annabeth keeps getting weird visions from a hat that she found in a temple, but not all of them are weird, some are scary and even suggest the death of members of their group. Will they make it home alive?
1. Chapter 1

**Chapter 1**

**The Very First Cyclops' Lair**

**An: Hi. Me be Emma **_**and me be Alice! Btw Emma is quite violent, she is my sister and we are writing this together. We get along well ish so we just want to do a bit of what we both want**_. **And Alice's love life sucks (mine does too but I don't really care as much as she does) so when she writes there is kissing, romance etc.**

Nico leaned against a large black rock, muttering "where is Percy and Thalia?" Annabeth shrugged her shoulders and stared off into the forest.

Suddenly a mangled spear flew out of the bush, followed by a very angry Thalia. "Oh damn you to Tartarus you stupid Cyclops! That was my best spear!" she yelled.

Annabeth jumped as Percy ran up and leaped onto her, "oh thank goodness you're okay!"

"Where were you?" Annabeth asked. Percy paused and then said, "Me and Thalia were just caught up in a Cyclops cave," he said, "only one Cyclops and no more of Thalia's spear." He glanced over at Thalia who looked like she was burying her spear with Nico.

'Let's get going, we're on a mission to kill Kronos" Percy announced.

"Okay" Nico said, knowing they had no idea where Kronos was.

They traveled a long way in unknown territory, until they found themselves in (what a surprise) a Cyclops lair. Everyone was nervous, but unwilling to turn around, since they had come such a long way.

"Okay, it's getting dark, and it feels like we're in some sort of labyrinth. We have to make a code word if we need help in case we get split up" Annabeth said.

"Yes we definitely need that," Thalia added.

"Marshmallow pie!" Percy suggested.

"NO!" Nico yelled.

"Well, do you have any other suggestions?" Thalia asked the group. A long pause hovered around for several seconds. "Marshmallow Pie it is."

Unfortunately and unknown to them, the resident Cyclops had overheard their entire conversation, which echoed deep into the cave.

Percy stepped carefully around the bones that were scattered everywhere. "Eep this place is giving me the cre-"

"AAAAH!" Annabeth shrieked as she clung to Thalia, who also looked quite scared. Thalia shivered "s-s-s-satyr leg" she said pointing to a corner.

Percy didn't want to look but in typical Percy fashion, he did. "Aaaaarg!" he raced over and hugged Nico.

"Really guys," Nico said "I've seen way scarier stuff in the fields of punishme- AAAAAAAAAAAAAAA!" Nicos eyes widened a pile of bones, fresh blood and satyr body parts were beneath his foot.

"AAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAH!" Annabeth and Thalia screamed and ran to their left, followed by Percy.

Nico ran right. When Nico stopped panting and sat down for a rest he noticed that his fellow demigods were missing, and that there was suddenly a dark ceiling overhead.

"Oh Styx " he muttered.

A voice rang out, "AAAAG! HELP! MARSHMELLOW PIE MARSHME- MMPH"

Thunk.

"PERCY!" Nico yelled. He jumped up and his eyes searched the darkness. As he looked around the corner, he saw a foot protruding from a large black net.

"Percy…" Nico said softly, "way to get trapped, buddy." He took a few careful steps toward the net and unsheathed his sword. "Waaaait a minute, Percy's shoes aren't whi-"

Annabeth peered through a window-like hole. The three had taken shelter further in the cave labyrinth. There were holes through which they could see into other parts of the cave, but it was dark.

"Do you see anything?" Thalia asked, while she straightened and smoothed her leather jacket.

"No, just wall, no Nico."

"Shoot" Thalia muttered, "he better come around that corner in the next ten seconds, damn him."

"Hey watch your mouth," Percy said.

Annabeth glanced at him, and her eyes widened.

"WATCH OUT!" she screamed.

Percy jumped to the side and pulled out Riptide, then sliced at the Cyclops who was suddenly behind them. The creature swatted at him with a huge fist, knocking him to the ground. Annabeth lunged and stabbed at the Cyclops, who swatted her away, her body hit the side of the cave. His eyes fixed on Thalia and he began to charge at her, his heavy feet pounding the ground. Thalia took out her tiny knife and waited until the horrible creature was just a foot away. The Cyclops lurched as Thalia stabbed it in stomach. "Ugh" it muttered in a deep growl, then promptly disintegrated at her feet.

"One down, fifty-nine to go" Percy said as he stepped over the pile of golden dust that was once a Cyclops. With a wave of his hand, he urged the group to continue. "Come on, we're going to have to find Nico."

Nico's POV

I officially HATE being tide up in… seaweed? Ok this is MESSED UP big time. I should probably back up a little… I was half way through thinking that Percy's shoes are not white, then something hit me hard on the head… and I woke up in a cave with a pond nearby, tied up in seaweed… gods I hate seaweed. If only it was PERCY here and not me he could eat the seaweed, or slide out of it, or…

Slide out of it…

_end of chapter 1_

**Well what do you think of the first chapter? Please review if u like it.**

_**I'm going to give you guys a sneak peak of later on in the story:**_

Sitting in the chair of honour was Luke. A Cyclops calmly walked up to him and asked "Master may I eat the satyr?"

"NO! You stupid cyclops" Luke yelled, "you may not eat anything!" His voice was harsh and stressed, but it was also oddly feminine.


	2. Chapter 2

Chapter 2

**The Hermes Cabin Attempts Archery**

Annabeth slipped through the door, followed by Thalia and Percy.

"Why, oh why does Nico have to be so stupid sometimes!" Thalia muttered.

The three were feeling frustrated with their lack of progress, when suddenly an iris appeared in front of them.

"CHIRON!" Percy shouted.

Chiron looked at Thalia and said, "We have sent help"

"How will help be getting here?" Thalia asked.

"We have sent transportation," Chiron said, "and you might be feeling really hot soon, so close your eyes in about two minutes."

An arrow shot near his head. "Agh!" he said "TRAVIS! CONNOR! WATCH WHERE YOU'RE SHOOTING, FOR ZEUS' SAKE!"

"SORRY!" Travis yelled then dodged an arrow that fell on his foot after Connor tried to load his bow backwards.

"Sorry," Chiron said hurriedly, "the Apollo cabin challenged the Hermes cabin in an archery competition to see who's godly parent was more awesome." He sighed, "if it was about poems, Hermes would win." Another arrow shot near Chiron's head, he ducked slightly, and then rolled his eyes. "Sorry, I have to go now," he said calmly as he waved his hand through the iris message.

Suddenly the air felt really hot. "Did this place just light on fire with invisible flames?" Percy said.

"It's like Apollo's sun chariot," said Annabeth, as she wiped the sweat from her brow.

"Close your eyes!" Thalia yelled as the temperature raised to what felt like 700 degrees. The arrival of the heat was so intense, even the three demi-gods wondered if they would survive it. Suddenly, the flare died down and they all struggled to see what was in front of them. Through a scorched hole in the roof, a shiny red convertible arrived and landed right at their feet.

Apollo stepped out smiling brightly at Thalia. Thalia blushed, but nobody knew why.

Grover stepped out from the passenger seat, his goatee slightly scorched.

"Hey," he said, "why do I feel like déjà vu."

"Yeah, we might as well just kick out Percy and add Luke in here," said Annabeth.

"Awkward…" Thalia muttered.

"Well," Apollo said, "I should be going," as he took a step toward the sun chariot. Thalia blushed again and stepped forward.

"Wait!" she stammered, "um… you could be um… you could help a bit, err…you…" She blushed even redder.

"It's okay" Apollo said, "I get it - you loooooove me." He puffed up his chest and put on his best god-like smile.

Thalia slapped him, embarrassed.

"Ouch" he muttered, "you know if I wasn't a nice dude I might have smighted you for that, but I'll restrain myself."

He jumped into the drivers' seat of the sun chariot, "I will be right back" he said.

The chariot drove away, but Apollo himself suddenly appeared back again. "Oh yeah, split consciousness… epicness," he said, bobbing his head.

Nico's POV

After I slithered and squeezed myself out of the seaweed, I was celebrating inside -Yay! Out of that seaweed! I'm freeeee! while silently making my escape from an unknown captor, likely one of those awful Cyclops.

I walked along the dim cave wondering where Percy, Thalia and Annabeth could be when I felt a huge heat close by, to my left. I heard voices, then a rumble of an engine and more voices. I ran around looking for the place where the voices were coming from. Wham! Suddenly I ran into Grover, no really, I literally RAN into Grover. "Eep!" he yelped and stumbled as I bumped into him.

"NICO!" Percy and Annabeth said in unison. Thalia ran over and hugged me. Apollo (where did he come from?) glared at me like I just drove his sun chariot into the lake.

They explained what happened with Grover and Apollo, and how Apollo was now accompanying us on our mission. Apollo gathered everyone up and twisted us out of the Cyclops cave.

"We should go to the place were Luke is keeping the coffin with Kronos in it," Percy said. "Anyone know anything?"

"Hermes said there's a huge soccer stadium in Arizona with a lot of underground hiding places," Apollo said, "I'm pretty sure that's where Luke is now."

"Um, problem," Thalia said, "There happens to be a lot of huge soccer stadiums in Arizona."

"Would it help if I said Mesa, Arizona?" Apollo asked.

"Of all places you could have twisted us to Apollo, you twisted us into the one stadium with a gathering of seven Cyclops… all together… right in front of us!" Thalia said as a Cyclops tightened the ropes that bound her hands together.

"Sorry…" Apollo said as he struggled to free his arms, "I hate god-proof ropes."

"Is that why they're all shiny?" asked Annabeth, who was already making plans to cut through the rope with Percy's sword, if only she could get close enough to grab it.

"Yeah, if they weren't so shiny and gold I would have blasted them to bits by now," Apollo muttered.

Percy looked up from his bound hands and could not believe what he saw. A king's court, so to speak, with a throne, jewels, carpeting… everything a powerful warlord would want. There sitting proudly in the chair of honour was Luke. A Cyclops walked up to him and asked, "Master, may I eat the satyr?"

"NO! You stupid Cyclops," he yelled "you may not eat anything!" his voice was harsh and stressed, but it was also oddly feminine.__

"Uuuuuh… is Luke a girl?" Percy said.

Annabeth mentally face palmed, "no Percy, Luke is NOT a girl!"

"But…"

"Percy, don't be ridiculous… he looks like a boy, he acts like a boy, and he talks like a boy. It's Luke. Now help me get out of these ropes."

"But he just talked like a girl! Did you hear that?" Percy looked up again. "HEY, LUKE! SAY SOMETHING!" he yelled.

"Somebody put a gag on him." Luke said.

"See?" Annabeth said, "Luke is a boy, now get your sword, will you?"

"Miff" Percy mumbled.

"I'm about to made into a shish kabob," Grover said looking down at his hooves, "this is a lame way to die." A Cyclops was drooling as he stared at Grover.

"Don't worry everyone, we will get out of this," Thalia said. "Look up there, self destruct," she was looking at a huge orange button on the wall.

Percy wasn't convinced. "How do you know it's a self-destruct button?"

Thalia whispered, "I read the label."

Luke was approaching the group, and was now only a few feet away.

"Oh goody," said Grover under his breath, "getting blown up in a stadium, super, I'd totally rather get blown up."

"Code B2!" Luke called to a Cyclops. The creature nodded, and marched everyone up the stairs towards a large door, right past the control panel with the big orange button.

Nico noticed that to the left was a door with a sign that read "change rooms," which was scribbled out and the word "dungeons" was scrawled roughly over top. He quietly chuckled to himself. "How secretive," he thought.

As they walked past the control panel, Nico shouted out "Now!" Thalia dove to the side, quickly hitting the self-destruct button. A gentle female voice began to echo around the stadium, "Self-Destruct activated. Total destruction in T minus one minute."

Luke jumped up, and yelled "You idiots!" He turned to all his minions and screamed orders for everyone to follow him. He raced for the exit door, but when he got there he turned around and yelled "GET THE COFFIN!"

He pointed to a golden coffin placed in the corner, completely unnoticed until then by Percy and the group. Everyone in the room looked to where Luke was pointing. Luke realized that the prisoners were unrestrained, and instructed three of the Cyclops to grab them. None of the Cyclops made a motion to capture them. Apollo seized the opportunity and yelled "Run!" They did, and they ran toward the exit door.

Annabeth's POV

Running with your hands tied behind your back is hard. Running with your hands tied behind your back away from a bunch of crazed Cyclops who might just be trying to escape the building before it collapses… with your boyfriend trying to cut both of you free with a huge sword… is super difficult. Until your boyfriend succeeds in cutting you free.

I ran over to Thalia and, with great difficulty, untied her hands. "Self destruct in T minus 15 seconds" rang out in the stadium. There was at least 20 meters between me and the door, quick mental math told me that's one and a half meters per second to get out.

Percy raced over to Nico and was busy untying his hands, as Thalia untied Apollo. Everyone was running toward the door.

"Self destruct in T minus five seconds," the calm voice warned.

"**RUN!**" Thalia screamed. Apollo ran through the door, grabbing Thalia along the way. They kept running. Grover was right behind them, leaping huge strides. Percy held my hand as we ran as fast as we'd ever run in our lives. We were just crossing through the door when the whole stadium exploded, crashing down into itself. I turned to look through the non-existent doorway… "NICO!" I yelled "NO!"

"No." Thalia said, stunned, as she collapsed into Apollo's arms. "Nico," she whispered.

The smoke cleared after a few minutes, and I saw Nico. His legs were jammed under a huge piece of cement, his arms were stretched out in front of him, and his face was smashed into the ground. It looked as though he had been reaching for someone to grab him. Any one of us could have grabbed him and pulled him out, if only we had known he was there.

Apollo reached down and effortlessly lifted the cement off of Nico. Percy pulled him out from underneath and gently lay him on the ground. Apollo put down the cement and kneeled over Nico. He breathed in sharply, "oh boy," he closed his eyes and began chanting.

Nico's POV

I woke up to see Apollo almost pass out on me. He looked dazed and dreamy but he continued to chant. Soon I was able to stand. It hurt a lot to stand, but I could do it. Everyone seemed relieved, but they all looked extremely worried.

_End of chapter 2_

There! What do you think? Please review why you think Luke is sounding like a girl, and everything else!


	3. Chapter 3

**Chapter 3**

**Artemis Has A Spaz**

Thalia's POV

After Nico was able to walk, we left the city and found a secluded place to camp for the night. I volunteered to keep watch first, and everyone settled down quickly to get some sleep. Once all was quiet, I wandered just a short distance away and sat on the edge of a cliff, looking up at the moon. Right out loud I spoke into the night, "Love is so annoying, I suppose you wouldn't know that, Artemis, would you?"

I stared into the small river flowing past me and off the cliff into a waterfall. A tiny minnow swam over the edge and I watched it tumble happily into the swirling pool below. "What would you do if you got a love letter containing really terrible poems, and it was signed by the god of music and poetry?" I asked the minnow.

Naturally it didn't answer. I looked up at the moon again. "What would you do?"

"Hmm?" I started to get impatient, "what would you do?!" I searched the water for more minnows. Another was swimming toward the waterfall, "Tell me, what would you do?" I yelled. The minnow stopped swimming. It looked directly at me. The shock on my face must have been obvious.

The minnow began to change. It quickly grew into Poseidon. I was so shocked I couldn't breathe. I did manage to make a small yelping noise as I bowed at his feet, "Lord Poseidon!"

" Oh Thalia! You don't need to bow at my feet! I'm not Zeus!"

"Oh, sorry," I said.

"And you don't need to apologize," he muttered.

He shifted his feet and looked thoughtful for a moment. "If I were you I'd accept Apollo's love. He's a nice fellow, but I warn you to stay strict with him, he does tend to overreact and get a bit crazy sometimes." Poseidon looked directly into my eyes, "You may not be aware of this, but Apollo is truly, deeply and madly in love with you."

You could have picked my jaw up off the damp ground.

"At one meeting," Poseidon continued, "he went on for an hour describing every little detail about you, and spent a half an hour of that just talking about your eyes! It was really boring for all of us, but it is plain that he loves you. Artemis fell asleep when he started describing your hair." He snorted with a bit of laughter.

"Okay," I managed to say, I was too stunned to respond intelligently.

"Well, I was busy enjoying some time to myself, so I'll swim off now. Think about what I said." Poseidon stepped into the river and turned back into a minnow. He hurriedly launched himself over the waterfall. I swear I heard him say "YAHOOO!" as he fell down into the cool water below.

I took a deep breath and shook my head to clear it, 'wow, that was… interesting,' I thought.

The next morning seemed awkward, it was hard to look Apollo in the eye. All day as we wandered into the desert, Apollo continued to make moves that could possibly be gestures of love, although a bystander would think he was a confused moose. Annabeth continued to stare at Percy like he was a piece of cake and she was a starving girl; the message was clear – she liked Percy so much she didn't even try to hide it. Grover continued to watch Nico's every move to make sure he didn't fall on his face again after his legs were crushed under all that cement. And I stayed quiet as we continued on the journey toward the place we thought Kronos was hiding. My mind could hardly stay focussed, I just kept staring into space trying to process what Poseidon had said.

Apollo's POV

Thalia, Thalia, Thalia, Thalia, Thalia, Thalia, Thalia, her hair, her eyes, her voice… it's the only thing going through my mind right now. I just really wish she would love me back. I just can't tell how she feels, and I think I have given off all the right signals. I need a good conversation starter…

'Oh Thalia, Thalia wherefore art thou Thalia?'

Hmm. 'No, that sucks, it's been used already... can't remember where.'

'_Mon__ belle __fille__tres__ belle __fille__, _maybe' I thought. Something French would be nice, Thalia speaks French…But _my pretty girl really pretty girl _is kind of lame, I suppose.

Maybe '_Thalia toi est le pier fille du __monde.'_

'Yes, yes! That is perfect,' I thought. I cleared my throat and said in my best French accent "_Thalia, toi est le pier fille du monde." _Thalia stared at me.

"Your French sucks!" she said, looking away. "If you were trying to say 'you are the best girl in the world' you'll have to work on your grammar. You just called me the worst girl."

Annabeth, who was listening discreetly, tried to help out, "Apollo its – TU est le MILLEUR fille du monde."

"Oh um, _desole Mon belle_!" Apollo tried again, with his deepest heartfelt apologetic tone.

"MA belle, Apollo, MA. I am a girl therefore its MA belle."

"Oh" I felt defeated in my attempts to impress her. I sighed and began to talk to myself, 'I feel like I am failing French, and failing at my attempts to…" I kept the rest of that sentence to myself… to win over Thalia, I wanted to say. Perhaps she will never love me. Perhaps I should just…

Without warning, Thalia launched herself at me, and hugged me so hard that it hurt. I silently expressed my pain with an inward "ouch!" - even for a god it hurt.

And then Thalia kissed me. I could not believe that her lips could be so soft and warm. My mind was whirling, trying to take it all in… this was the most amazing and beautiful experience, in all my days as a god I cannot think of another more thoroughly enjoyable thing as this kiss. I kissed back, and the feeling was absolutely surreal. We became lost in each other's embrace.

When the magical timeless spell had dissipated and we finally broke apart, Thalia giggled. She said my face was as red as the little santa hats you buy at the local dollar store.

Artemis's POV

CALM DOWN

Thalia told me that she liked Apollo. Now I understand Thalia loves Apollo.

"MY FREAKIN' HEAD LIEUTENANT JUST KISSED APOLLO!" I screamed up at the sky.

I can't stop pacing. She told me, she told me… Thalia told me. I knew she loved Apollo. When she talked to me before they left on the quest for Kronos, she said she wanted to step down as Head Lieutenant, and maybe even the Hunters, but I couldn't believe she was serious… grrrrrrrrr.

"APOLLO! WHY?" I screamed at the top of my voice. The fury was so intense I thought I might turn into full form and destroy all living things. That reaction may be a bit extreme. I forced myself to calm down, breathe, breathe. This is not just my Head Lieutenant, this is also my brother!

This doesn't make sense, how could someone like Thalia give up the Hunters just because she's in love with Apollo. It's impossible, she'd never give up being part of a respected and high ranking group of immortals. And why Apollo? What is so special about that, that, that ridiculous blend of vanity and uselessness? Arg! It's so maddening!

I heard a noise, and turned around to see a very surprised looking Hermes.

"What. Do. You. Want." I asked him in my most patient and tolerant goddess tone.

"Thalia kissed Apollo?" Hermes exclaimed. "Hahahahaha!" he doubled over laughing, "she… the Head Lieutenant… kissed Apollo?" He laughed harder still, and could barely catch his breath.

"That would be my _former_ Head Lieutenant," I growled.

Hermes hit the ground and laughed so hard he didn't even notice when I tied him up and threw him in the closet of Hades' fortress on Olympus (because nobody ever goes in there). "Ha!" I said to him as I shoved him into the dark hole.

"Mmmmmfff mm ffmmm!" came the noises from the closet, as Hermes tried to say something in his defense through his gag. I didn't care to listen.

"I like the god-proof ropes. They come in very handy," I said. "You will be stuck here until Zeus wonders why you didn't show up for a meeting. Maybe then someone will come looking for you. Maybe." I made sure the door was locked tight, and walked away.

Thalia's POV

I can't believe I did that. I didn't think before I acted. I should have thought it through, but it appears Apollo didn't mind. A smile formed on my lips despite my concerns, and I tucked myself into Apollo's arms.

But Artemis… it will be okay, I already warned her. I stepped down as Head Lieutenant. And I will step down from the Hunters. She will understand, she knows about love, doesn't she? I hope she understands. She won't understand. Well, she is a goddess. She will survive my departure from her group... Somehow, telling myself all of this didn't make that terrible sinking feeling go away.

I looked up at Apollo. He was smiling at me, then he squeezed me closer to him.

"What is it? You suddenly look sad." he asked warmly.

"Nothing," I replied "it's nothing." I really didn't want to bring up his sister's reaction to this quite so soon. I just wanted to bathe in this reality, finally acknowledging our feelings for each other.

"Ahem," Annabeth said, "we should, you know, um, keep going… maybe? Do you think?"

"Is that a series of individual questions?" Percy asked. Annabeth glowered at him. "Never mind" he said, recognizing that no one was in the mood for a joke.

"Yeah," Nico said, suddenly mobile where he was previously frozen to the spot, "we need to go. We're losing time standing around here."

I let my arms fall way from Apollo, and gave him one last smile. I turned my face to the sun, which was going down over the distant west mountains. I turned around and looked at the moon, which was rising to the east.

"Artemis," I said, "I step down from the Hunters."


	4. Chapter 4

**Chapter 4**

**Hades Goes Whacko**

**AN: thank you to east, liper, sparky, percabeth, and others for reviewing.**

**_In between the lines, _**"Would it help if I said Mesa, Arizona?" Apollo asked. **_and _**"Of all places you could have twisted us to Apollo… **_there is supposed to be a line break but for some reason it didn't show up. Sorry for any confusion._**

**_disclaimer: WE DO NOT OWN PJO! that was done by the amazing , the fantastic, the epic, the amazingly amazing... RICK RIORDAN!_**

Annabeth's POV

I walked in front of the group. Percy was beside me talking about water. We'd been walking for two days and still hadn't found Kronos' lair, or any sign of Luke. Apollo and Thalia didn't seem to fully grasp our situation, being too busy gazing into each others eyes. Grover hadn't said a word all day, and Nico was looking like a lost puppy. In other words, all was relatively normal.

Percy hasn't said much in the last couple of days either, except to complain about being thirsty (which is odd for the son of Poseidon). I tried to ask him about Kronos, about whether or not we should give up and go back to camp to hatch a new plan. He didn't respond, and instead asked me if I liked the desert.

Without warning, the dark figure of Hades rose up directly in front of me. His face showed anger and pain, and in a microsecond, he rushed past us and straight to Nico. He grabbed Nico by the collar of his sweater and lifted him off the ground. Then they both vanished into a cloud of black smoke.

There was complete and utter silence as we all stood in shock of what just happened.

"what the f-?!"

"Shht!" I said, "No swearing, Percy it is bad for the human mind," I gestured to the top of my head.

"Alright – what on earth just happened?" Percy held his hands out as if to fully give up.

Apollo declared "Nico has just been abducted by Hades."

"Ya think?" Percy yelled. "Why? What has Nico done to piss of his dad?"

"hades probably just wanted to tell him something, something private" Thalia said.

"Well, Hades just grabbed the front of Nico's shirt, lifted him of the ground then vanished! I'm guessing he's mad about something," said Percy.

Apollo walked right up to Percy and said "You're a smart kid, aren't you?" stabbing his finger at Percy's face. Percy went cross-eyed to try to keep it in his view.

Then suddenly Hades appeared again. He shoved Nico to the ground and then vanished. Just before he disappeared I noticed that Hades left arm seemed to be melting.

"NICO!" I yelled as I ran over to him, "are you all right?"

"Code 15 X…" Nico wimpered as he pulled himself off the ground.

"Code 15 X?" Grover asked.

"YES! 15 X! That… that means…it means…"

"Nico? Are you okay?" I asked touching his shoulder.

"NO!" He yelled spinning around to face me. "CODE 15 X! Hades got abducted and the shades are going on a rampage. I am NOT okay!"

Nico's POV

I was just standing there considering our options now that we had basically given up finding Luke or Kronos in the desert, when Hades shows up out of nowhere and grabs me, then shadow travels to the underworld.

When we arrived in his palace, he pointed to the window.

"Look," Hades said, pointing to something outside that seemed to confuse him.

I looked out, and saw all the shades racing around in all directions. Some were screaming, some were laughing, some were grinning and doing a gruesome dance. And some were just standing there looking shocked.

"Code 15 X" whispered Hades to his son.

"But code 15 X means you got abducted!" Nico said, his eyes growing wider with confusion.

"Yes, Nico. I'm sure you've heard of split consciousness. Right now, most of me is being strangled by some sort of tentacled creature, that is why my arm is wasting away," he gestured to his arm which was like a wax candle melting in the sun.

"Ew," I said, making a screwy face.

"Yes, Nico, ew. Thanks for the sympathy." Hades said, rolling his eyes. "Pretty soon my whole body will look like this, and I will die in the tentacles of this strange unknown creature. You must kill it, I am helpless and I have no idea what this thing is. The whole underworld is at risk, you must save us all."

"But-"

"Code 15 X, Nico, don't let me down." Then Hades grabbed me again and shadow traveled back to the place where he found me. The group was all still standing there, like they were waiting for me. He threw me on the ground then vanished, and everyone just stared in shock.

Thalia's POV

Apollo was determined to get this particular madness overwith, knowing that Nico would be lost to all of us if anything were to happen to the underworld. He twisted all of us to the place where Nico had just been, and we were instantly lost in a crowd of shades.

"ANNABETH! GROVER! APOLLO! NICO! PERCY!" I yelled for everyone, anyone.

"THALIA?" I heard Annabeth's voice yelling from my left.

"ANNABETH!" I yelled back, searching for her. I finally saw her, waving her hands and jumping up and down, yelling "OVER HERE!"

Out of the corner of my eye I saw Apollo lighting up an area around him. He then raced forward and grasped me, "Thalia! You're okay!" He yelled.

"Yes, and Annabeth is over there!" I said, pointing to Annabeth as she was running toward us. She grabbed on to my arm, and then we all started to push our way around the shades.

"PERCY?!" Annabeth yelled.

"HERE!" A voice yelled from far away in front of us.

We forced our way forward but still couldn't see Percy. The shades were crazy and making an enormous roar of noise. None of them seemed to notice that we were there, they just kept leaping about and acting out of control. Apollo was helping us push forward as we yelled for Percy and the others, throwing his light into the distance. Pillars were broken off, garbage was strewn everywhere.

It was chaos.

Finally, we saw Percy, and yelled for him. He spun around to face us and started making his way through the shades.

"Percy!" Annabeth yelled as they met and hugged.

"We need to find Nico," yelled Percy over the roar.

"And Grover!" I cried out. "This is terrible – everything is crazy down here!" We started to move together as a unit. we continued looking for Grover and Nico for a while we must have been there for a half an hour, then suddenly a huge booming voice erupted in the air.

"**_STOP!_**" It was Hades' voice, but it was Nico who yelled it. But wait…

It must have been Hades because all the shades obeyed. However, they would obey Nico, too.

The crowd of crazed shades came to a complete standstill, and a quiet fell over the area. We looked up and saw Hades standing on a platform, his cloak billowing around him and his eyes full of rage. Nico was standing beside him. He looked like he was covered in… goo?

Hades raised his hand. "RETURN" he commanded. All the shades separated into groups.

They all tumbled over themselves, stumbling and pushing into their various parts of the underworld, as if a huge invisible tornado was shoving them away.

Hades turned to Nico. "You did good," he said as he patted Nico on the shoulder. Nico's eyes lit up like a kid on Christmas morning. A pat on the shoulder from Hades was like a huge hug and a shower of confetti from a normal dude.

Nico shadow travelled to us. He had Grover with him, who looked like he'd been pulled through a wet doughnut. Then, as suddenly as we had arrived, Apollo twisted us away.

Nico's POV

We arrived in the underworld and instantly a huge mob of shades separated us all. I raced over to my left. "GROVER!" I yelled after I heard what sounded like hooves, but then I recognized the sound – swords. I ran to the sound letting my ears take control.

Then I saw it through the doors of the palace. What looked like the roots of a gigantic tree, some sort of creature had Hades wrapped up like a ball of string. The slimy tentacles of the strange vine monster were around Hades entire body, only one of his arms was partially free. Tentacles were wrapped around his neck, and Hades was fighting to detach them with his one free hand and the sword he held in it.

Another tentacle appeared and knocked the sword from Hades' hand and wrapped tightly around his arm. Hades was covered in a thick layer of goo, and seemed incapable of any god-like power. It looked like the fight was over.

At that point I realized how huge this octopus-thing was. It must have been twice the size of the Kraken, and there were at least a hundred or more flailing tentacles. It lifted the motionless Hades and threw him across the room, the way a child throws away a toy he's no longer interested in. Hades' semi-conscious body smashed through the wall and landed in the next room. The creature started to move, a slow undulating crawl, toward the place it threw Hades' body.

"HEY YOU!" I screamed, not yet realizing that this was probably the stupidest move I could make, "YA, BIG FAT OCTOPUS!" I should have thought of a more intelligent insult but that one got its attention quite nicely.

It turned and charged toward me, using its tentacles as feet. It moved surprisingly fast once it decided to fight me. With one swift move it flung one of his tentacles into me and I hit the ground, my sword flying several feet away.

The creature scuttled and picked up my sword, then through it into the room where Hades had landed. "NO!" I yelled, "YOU STUPID BALL OF CYCLOPS DUNG!"

That insult was definitely more impressive than the first. I was getting better at thinking on my feet.

It charged me again, I started to run but a long tentacle grabbed me by the ankle and lifted me off the ground. Within seconds my entire body was covered in tentacles. I could see now how Hades would become quickly trapped without being able to use any of his powers. Then, one tentacle wrapped itself around my mouth making a very stinking gag. That did it, I was paralyzed and being squeezed to death. Somehow, my right arm had some mobility, so I pulled it from the mass and tried to push the tentacle away from my mouth and eyes. It was solidly stuck to me, I couldn't budge it. I tried to push away any of the tentacles, but the power of the squeeze was too much. For a brief second, I felt all was doomed. Hades was barely alive in the next room, my friends were trapped in a mob of shades, and I was about to drift into unconsciousness in the arms of a creature no one had ever seen before. Things didn't look good at all.

Then, I heard a voice, a strangely soft voice, "Hey you! Put Nico down!" And then, the beautiful sound of reed pipes. Was I dreaming? Or dying?

da da da daaaaa da! Fuuuu fuu fuuuuuu! da da da daaaa!

The octopus creature started moving strangely. Then, as if it was doing the can-can with a hundred legs, each tentacle straightened then dropped to the ground. At some point, it dropped me and I plummeted ten meters to the ground. I hit hard, but thankfully onto a squishy tentacle.

Then, the song changed from da da da daaaaa to loooo loooo ting ting, getting quieter and quieter. For a moment, the creature stopped moving. Before I was mushed into a Nico pancake or grabbed again, I stumbled away in case it changed its mind about the lovely music. I was able to see the source of the melody now, it was Grover, and he was just dropping to his knees, his pipes falling out of his hands. He looked exhausted.

With the music stopped, the creature began to move again, his tentacles wrapping slowly around Grover's body.

I was full of rage now, and I ran straight for the centre of the creature's mass. Then, I saw its head. Believe me, that is a sight I was not prepared for. It looked like the head of a squid but more hideous. Its eyes were a poisonous green. Then it opened its mouth and I could see five rows of teeth, they each must have been two feet long and as sharp as Clarisse's spear. The creature was using its tentacles to bring Grover toward its mouth! I had to do something now!

I raced into the room with my sword in it. Hades was half buried under rocks, still not conscious, and my sword was laying beside him. I grasped it, then ran faster than I'd ever ran before. I formulated a plan as I ran toward the mass of tentacles. I knew I needed to find the heart of this creature – that was the key to its destruction.

Running over to the front of its head, I jumped and climbed up the tentacle with Grover in it. The creature's eyes moved and looked right at me. Its mouth began to close, as if it was considering me and whether or not I'd be a better meal. That was the moment I chose to jump straight into its mouth.

Now, I like sliding down hills as much as the next guy, but comparing that to sliding down a monsters throat? Not as much fun. Way more scary, and gooey. I slid into its stomach and cannonballed into the stinky goo. I had to work quickly, or else the stomach acid would dissolve me. That would be a heroic end... not.

I took my sword and hacked away at the side of its stomach, the creature thrashed and turned over, and I was tossed about in the awful mess of the stomach and its contents. I could only hope it had already released Grover.

Soon I split the skin and was face to face with its heart. "What luck" I thought, then I mustered a loud garbled cry that I hoped the monster could hear, "FOR HADES!" I screamed as I stabbed at its heart. With a horrible shudder the entire creature began to collapse and disintegrate. Within seconds, I found myself standing on a mountain of slime, covered from head to toe in the disgusting leftovers, my sword half-raised, directly in front of a very surprised-looking satyr.

**TA DA!**


End file.
